The
Gazette
Western Park
No.47 August 2013 www.westernparkgazette.co.uk
News and Views for Western Park  Westcotes  The Fosse
Hello From The Editor
Welcome to the August issue of the Western
Park Gazette.
This month a local family escape a devastating
lightning strike on their home by the skin of their
teeth. (The front cover picture is a montage in
case you thought we were hanging around waiting for it to happen. We’re not that good…)
Roger Blackmore has the story of Leicester’s
warrior poet, Helen Knott rages at people in
pants and a local cancer researcher, Stewart
Hale, plans to ride his bike from Leicester to Amsterdam in aid of Hope Against Cancer. Shopkeepers on the Hinckley Road Row set up a traders association to improve the area and Aarti
Thohani heads off to Simon Says at the De Montfort Hall to sample the best of Leicester’s music.
Sergeant Rod Smart from Hinckley Road police
station has their news round up and it looks like
they’ve been fairly busy; our gardening expert,
Tony Huxley says, “Beware of the peach leaf
curl.” And Richard Perry wonders if artificial intelligence is just around the corner.
If you fancy getting really frustrated, we have
more nasty Brain Tazers on the inside back cover
as well as the chance to win a DVD of the new
Jack the Giant Slayer movie,
e: [email protected]
Struck by lightning!
A Western Park family had a narrow escape
when lightning hit their home during one of the
overnight storms at the end of July.
Emma Lowe and Dan Lockton were in bed at
4.30am with their daughter Darcy, 4, whist 11
month old Jett was in another room, when the roof
of their detached home off Letchworth Road exploded.
Emma’s mum,
Eunice, who lives
nearby, heard the
huge bang: “I thought
- somebody’s got it. A
few minutes later my
daughter, in her night
clothes and the children arrived, banging
on the door saying the
house was on fire.”
The family have since
moved out and have
taken a holiday, but
Eunice said: “It was
traumatic for the chil- Eunice surveys the damage
dren.”
“There was a weird humming sound, then a flash
and a loud explosion as the lightning hit the chimney and went down the aerial, blowing holes in
two bedroom ceilings and throwing rubble, dust
and tiles onto the beds. The loft hatch blew out
and went down the stairs and the loft window shot
off towards next door’s roof.”
“Everything in the
house is filthy, it
looks like a blast.
The structural engineer even said the
roof’s moved. The
chimneys unsafe, in
fact the
whole house is, so
they’ve had to move
out for at least six
months while it’s all
fixed.”
The lightning
strike was so powRoof tiles blown off
erful that the resulting thunder rattled windows and set off car alarms
across Western Park.
The house was one of three Leicestershire properties struck during the storm.
Butterfly Flutterby
If you have a buddleia bush, at the beginning
of August, you might have spotted a flurry of
butterfly activity around these plants.
With over 70% of British butterflies slowly heading towards extinction, it’s just as well that red,
pink or lavender buddleia is a magnet for them.
Look for Western Park Gazette on Facebook
and @mygazette on Twitter
Online at
www.westernparkgazette.co.uk
Scan this into your smartphone
And go directly to the website
Peacock Butterfly
It’s thought this is because butterflies can see
red wavelength colours, unlike most insects,
which is why buddleia bushes are so popular.
So go on - keep our West Leicester butterflies
thriving and plant a butterfly bush or two!
Leicester’s Warrior Poet
With next year marking the hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the First World
War, it is likely that much attention will be
focussed on the writings of Britain's war poets such as Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Owen and
Siegfried Sassoon.
Interesting therefore to reflect that our very own
Leicestershire Regiment, The Tigers, actually
appointed their own official war poet and that not
surprisingly he was a Leicestershire man.
Arthur Newberry Choyce,
the son of a local miner,
was born at Hugglescote
in 1893. In his early twenties he joined the Leicestershire Regiment becoming a Second Lieutenant
in the 9th Battalion. He
saw active service in
France and was badly
wounded at the Battle of
Arras in 1917, the same
battle,
incidentally,
in
which another war poet,
Edward Thomas, lost his
life.
Choyce was chosen by his Regiment as its official war poet and one of his best known collections of poetry was 'Crimson Stains' published
under the subtitle 'Poems of War and Love'. He
also wrote under the pseudonym of Thurce
Crayne, in which guise he wrote a book of Love
Poems.
Altogether Choyce was to publish seven volumes of poetry and one novel, the latter being
entitled 'Lips at the Brim'.
In 1918 Choyce was sent to tour America in his
capacity as soldier poet of the Leicestershire
Regiment and lectured to huge audiences, garnering great critical approval. This tour obviously
made a considerable impact on the poet, who
was to go on to compose the epitaph sent by the
mothers of the British Empire to America's unknown warrior.
His last volume of poetry entitled 'These Slender
Larches' appeared in 1924. He later became
Headmaster of Snibston School and died in 1937
at the age of 43. It is almost certain that complications arising from his war wounds contributed
to his early death.
Copies of a number of his works are kept in the
Newarke Houses Museum which also displays, in
the regimental section, a picture and short biography of our county's soldier poet.
Roger Blackmore
Events Diary
Zumba Class Tues. 7.15 - 8.15 at New College.
Call Sarah - 07810 307 113.
Fosse Camera Club: Fridays. St. Peter’s Church
Rooms. 7.45pm. 0116 299 2230.
Leic’ Ladies WI: Meets monthly on 3rd Mon.7.15pm
Upstairs in The Almanack, 15 Bath House Lane.
Fosse Singers: Fosse N’hood Centre. Weds. 7pm.
Gorse Hill City Farm – Summer Fun Day: 4th Aug.
10-4.30. Tickets from £1.
Richard III Family Afternoon: 22nd Aug. Leic
Cathedral. 3-5pm.
Summer Fun Fair: Until 23rd Aug. City Centre.
Ride Leicester Festival: 25th Aug. Main cycle ride
– city centre.11-4pm www.goskyride.com/leicester &
Sports Fest also at City Centre and Our Leicester
Day in the market place. All free.
Leic Old Town Festival: 26th Aug. City Centre. 115pm. Free.
Belgrave Mela: 26th Aug. City center.11-6pm. Free.
Leic Horticultural Show: 26th Aug. Aylestone Leisure Centre. Free.
The Short Film Festival: 28th Aug. Phoenix. 8pm.
Locally produced movies. £4.00. www.phoenix.co.uk
Bands in the Park (Praise in th Park): 1st Sept.
Western Park bandstand. 4-5.15pm. Free
Fashion Charity Night in aid of Small Pet Rescue: Sept 16th. West Leic Cons Club, Westcotes
Drive 7.30pm. Tickets £5 from 07799 427 058.
Trading Group Launches
Business owners on the Hinckley Road parade
of shops have joined together to start their
own trading association.
The Western Park Row Trading Association will
represent the row of shops between Mostyn Street
and Kirby Road.
Fed up with litter, rubbish and unsocial activity on
their doorstep they have banded together to improve the neighbourhood and general shopping
experience.
Set up after several shop owners got together in
July, the aim is to improve the area by approaching the council and other funding bodies as a single group whilst creating enthusiasm for the business that exist there.
Nicola Coleman from the Sunshine Studio one of
the organisers said: “We want to improve and
promote the area, working together as a team with
local residents to make the Row a nice place to do
some traditional shopping.”
Treena Hallam who runs Monty’s Deli hopes the
trading association will prove popular with traders
and shoppers: “Originally we wanted something
done about the sacks of rubbish and wheelie bins
outside, but then we thought we could band together and really make a difference.”
Many of the traditional
shops like the butchers, greengrocer and
wool shop have long
since disappeared as
supermarkets became
more popular but that
could change if the
Western Park Row
Trading
association
gets its way.
Local
Councillors
Susan Barton and Soon to be
a thing of the past
George Cole are supporting the campaign. Susan said: “George and I
really happy to be working with this enthusiastic
group. We're endeavouring to facilitate some positive developments; some funded through the
Western Park Community Budget to make the row
a pleasant places to shop and for traders to do
business. We're working with Council officers to
restore the shopping area of Western Park to reflect its position close a lovely part of the city.”
The trading association hopes to hold outside
events to encourage local shoppers. Nicola Coleman already has some ideas: “We’re looking at
holding a balloon day, meet the business events
and even get the Christmas light back up.”
Journalist and broadcaster Helen Knott likes gar- ran full tilt through their back gate. On this occadening; it’s just people doing it in their underwear sion I was alone.
I can see the appeal of gardening in your pants, it
she has a problem with...
Knott’s Landing
When is it OK to garden in your pants? I ask
because the recent hot weather has caused
some people to shed clothes at an alarming
rate. The hot sticky weather demanded that we
wear loose, cotton clothing that does not cling or
dig in anywhere. I obliged by digging out all my
holiday gear and wafting around in a set of cut off
joggers and various t-shirts and tunics.
It was while dressed like this that I came across
my first gardener wearing nothing but underwear!
Walking along with my little boy we saw the lady in
question and he pointed and said loudly ‘Mummy
that lady is wearing her pants and bra!’ What followed was a conversation about how sometimes
people get hot and take their clothes off but grown
-ups shouldn’t really walk around in their underwear.
My second gardener in their pants was clearly
just in their back garden and had popped out for a
moment to put their weeds (bush trimmings) in the
bin. Our eyes met. They looked away quickly and
is just like wearing swimwear and indeed once or
twice I have done a
bit of weeding in my
Upsetting Helen
pyjamas early in the
morning, when it’s
just me and the milkmen around, but in
the heat of the midday sun I think I
would be terrified of
being spotted. Indeed it is not so
much the fact that
people are gardening
in their pants that
disturbs me, it is A rake just wearing pants
more that they are
doing so out in public!
Naturists have no problem with gardening naked
of course, there is even a garden owned and
opened by a naturist couple who wander around
with tool belts, hats and boots tackling brambles
and nettles with vigour. The difference being if you
visit them, seeing a gardener in the buff would
come as no surprise at all!
Tony Huxley’s
Garden Tidings
After a spell of real summer the fruit in the
garden is now beginning to look edible. Apples
and pears are fattening nicely, although this time
last year they were already filling the fruit bowl!
They’ve also put on masses of leaf growth, but
I’ve kept them in check with a summer prune. This
keeps the crop manageable and improves quality.
It also allows more light to the plants below. Plum
trees can also produce too much fruit which can
cause limbs to tear, so don’t be afraid or too
greedy to thin the crop.
My peach tree has made a
full recovery after its annual attack of Peach Leaf
Curl. This fungal infection
can
defoliate
infected
plants. The fungus likes
damp Spring conditions.
Using a waterproof sheet
to cover small specimens
for the first five months of
the year can reduce infecPeach Leaf Curl
tion. You can also spray
Doctor on the Go!
Western Park resident Dr Stewart Sale is a
lecturer and cancer researcher at the University of Leicester. He was approached by a local
cancer charity, Hope Against Cancer, to be an
ambassador for them - in order to raise the profile
of the charity. It is a big year for the charity as they
are celebrating their 10 th Anniversary. Over this
period the charity has raised over £3 million and
funded 29 cancer research projects in the East
Midland area.
In order to fulfil this role Stewart has set himself a year of
challenges which include numerous half and full marathons
throughout this year. One of
the highlights of the whole
year of fundraising will be a
long distance bike ride organised by the charity where a
team of around 50 cyclists, inc
ex-England World cup rugby
winning captain Martin Johnson, are riding from Leicester
to Amsterdam and back in 5
days this September.
with a copper based fungicide in winter and early
spring.
Currants and gooseberries should now be ready
for harvesting, this is also a good time to prune
back the new growth. On the other hand blackcurrants should be pruned when dormant, trying only
to remove old wood
as the fruit is produced on the new
growth.
Blueberries are attractive plants that
don’t look out of place
in ornamental borders
or planters. They are
ericaceous so for best
results grow in lime
Blueberries
free soil and apply an
acidic mulch such as
composted pine needles or conifer clippings. Their
berries are claimed to be a “super food” and
should be plump and ready for picking.
Fruit trees and shrubs can give a great return for
a small investment of time and care. Most fruit can
be easily frozen, bottled or turned into jams and
puddings, and nothing beats the taste of a home
grown dessert.
Tony Huxley
But Stewart has decided to make the finale of the
year a 24h solo endurance run at Equinox24. He
says: “I see this as one of the ultimate endurance
challenges both physically and mentally. I have
competed in numerous marathons and I see this
as the next step up. I wanted to make the final
event of the year something that I would always
remember and how would you forget a 24h endurance race especially when held in such a scenic
location as Belvoir Castle”.
Stewart is still looking for sponsorship for his year
of events and people can donate through his
virginmoneygiving site:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ayearforhope
COUNCILORS SURGERIES
Fosse Cllrs Surgery: Monthly, 2nd Sat,10.3011.30, Fosse Neighbourhood Centre & last Sat
10.30 -11.30am at Woodgate Residents Association.
Westcotes Cllrs Surgeries: Westcotes Library,
1st Sat each month, 10.30 - 11.30am and 4th Fri
each month, 10.am-11am. Manor House Neighbourhood Centre, 2nd Friday every month, 1011am.
Western Park Cllrs Surgery: Monthly-2nd Weds
St. Paul’s Church Rooms, Kirby Road. 7-8.00pm.
Sq. Mile Fun Day
A fun day and film festival organised by De
Montfort University’s Square Mile (mile2) programme drew more than 2,500 people to the
Rally Park near Tudor Road in July.
Students and staff, working with residents of
Woodgate, Newfoundpool and Fosse areas,
hosted bouncy castles, a play area, stalls and
pop-up cinema.
The event was part of the university's Square
Mile programme which aims to connect the community with DMU and share academic expertise.
As well as the activities, residents had the opportunity to learn more about the many free opportunities the Square Mile programme offers,
like IT training, English lessons, choir singing and
stand-up comedy coaching.
Jack the Giant Slayer Competition
Here’s your chance to settle down with a family friendly DVD!
Jack the Giant Slayer
(Cert 12) has just
been released on
DVD and Blu
Blu--Ray and
we’ve got a copy to
give away.
It’s a new action
packed retelling of the classic tale where Jack,
the poor farm boy, accidently reopens the gateway between the human world and a realm of
fearsome man eating giants!
Originally banished for destroying the kingdom
and eating a lot of people, the angry giants are
on the way back and they’re very, very hungry!
To win the copy of Jack the Giant Slayer just
answer this question:
What created the giant beanstalk?
A. Magic apples
B. Magic leaves
C. Magic eggs
D. Magic beans
Answers by email only by 24th August 2013
to: [email protected]
T&Cs: Only 1 winner. 1 entry per person, No cash alternative. Judge's decision is final. Correspondence only entered
into with the winner.
Mum of three Cassie Stevens, 26, of Woodgate,
said: "It's been great. The best thing about it all
was it was all free - it was such a nice surprise.
It's been great to see all the families coming
down to the park and enjoying themselves.”
Volunteers from the
community, including
members of the local
residents' panel Fosse
Forum, staff at the
Tudor Pub and students
from
DMU
helped to set the event
up and picked litter
throughout the day.
Students even took
time to blitz the graffiti
on the signs surrounding the park during the
event.
Square Mile
manager Mark Charlton said: "We have had such a lovely day. Residents have come to the park in huge numbers to
enjoy the fun activities.”
Computers are just big dumb calculators that can’t
think for themselves. But soon they might...
August Police Update
TECHIE THUMP
The Smart View with Sgt Rod Smart
Richard Perry
Question: How big would a computer have to
be to be able to replicate the thought processes of the human brain?
Answer: Absolutely massive.
The brain is a fiendishly complicated elecrobiological machine thousands of times faster per
second than even the biggest super computers
tied together. Now somebody’s had a go at trying
to replicate one second of brain bower in a computer. Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of
Technology Graduate University in Japan and
Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany have
managed to do it using the world fourth largest
supercomputer – The K.
They were able to
create an artificial
neural network of
1.73 billion nerve
cells connected by
10.4 trillion synapses. That’s the
The K Supercomputer
equivalent of
around 2% of a human brain’s.
The K’s 83,000 processors churned away for 40
minutes to generate that one second of human
brainpower and used up over a million gigabytes
of system memory as it individually modeled
each neuron.
Although currently the practical uses of this research are zero since we’d need a machine the
size of Western Park to simulate a human brain;
it proves it can and probably will be done.
Bundle enough processors together, let them get
on with it and you have the start of artificial intelligence, indeed, Google’s Deep Learning project
succeeded in building a system that could recognize a cat on YouTube. That may not sound like
a big deal, but it’s a start.
It shows that biological systems can now be
modeled in a computer. Yes it was a massive
computer and it took ages but with the speed of
development always increasing, it’s only a matter
of time before your iPad is smarter than you are.
Western Park Gazette
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During the past few weeks we have had an
increase in the number of burglaries
around the area as a result of the victim
leaving their windows open. This makes it
easy for burglars to get into properties. You
are strongly advised to make sure that they
keep downstairs doors and windows (and upstairs windows near to flat roofs) secured,
even when in the house or garden. It only
takes a criminal a few seconds to get in
through an open window and escape through
the window or door with valuable items (or
even a double bed in the case of a burglary on
Tudor Road!) Door chains and window locks
are relatively inexpensive and easily available.
On 22 June, a local man reported an attempted robbery on the Rally Park during the early
morning. The following evening a local man
was robbed of his phone and ID card on the
park. Such incidents are rare and there has
been a reduction in crime since the redevelopment of The Rally, but you are still advised to
be vigilant, especially late at night, keeping
phones and money hidden and avoiding secluded or dark areas.
On 26 June, a drunken nineteen year old
youth from Coalville attacked a number of cars
before throwing property around and racially
abusing members of the public at a Hinckley
Road filling station. The youth has since been
charged with criminal damage and a racially
aggravated public order offence.
Over a week during July, a large amount of
lead has been stolen from St. Anne’s Church
on Letchworth Road. The Police would like to
hear from anyone who heard or saw anything
suspicious between 10 and 19 July.
In the early hours of 13 July a 37 year old
local man was attacked and beaten in the
street in the Fosse Road North area by a
group of six men who accused him of being a
burglar.
On 18 July, a cannabis factory was found in a
terraced property on Harrow Road.
Over the past few weeks, there have been
reports of devices being attached to bank ATM
machines on Narborough Road. Such devices
record card details which are then used in
frauds. You are advised to be wary of anything unusual attached to cash machines (not
just on Narborough Road) and should inform
the bank and police immediately if they spot
anything suspicious.
SIMON SAYS SUCCESS!
The last weekend in July gave a kick-start to
the summer, showcasing Leicester’s local
music scene at De Monfort Hall and Gardens
at the Simon Says festival.
The
sold-out
event attracted
over two thousand people with
its eclectic mix of
soul, jazz and
blues to rock
bands entertaining a crowd of all
ages.
Simon Says replaced the Summer Sundae festival, which ran at De Montfort Hall for 10 years,
and proved to be a big success with the packed
audience inside the hall and outside in the garden, where festival goers were treated to food
stalls, a real ale tent and picnics in the Sun.
The talented West End musical duo Mia and the
Moon wowed the crowds with their many musical
influences by giving a soulful rendition mix of
Stevie Wonder’s ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’, the
Troggs ‘Wild Thing’ and the Black Eyed Peas hit
‘Where is the love’ and even got the audience
singing along to their song ‘Midnight in London’.
Following the performance they said: “It was
absolutely fantastic, the sound was good, the
crowd were awesome, everyone was rocking and
it was great to feel Leicester’s support”.
The two-day festival featured a whole host of
local artists including Young Knives, The Simple
Tones, Jersey Budd, By The Rivers, Mahalia,
Codex Leicester and many more.
The Uncle Frank band, a fixture on the Leicester
music scene rocked the main staged, dressed in
white suits and black shirts, with the crowds
dancing and singing along.
A fabulous weekend of musical talent enjoyed by
many festival goers, supporting great local bands
and artists. Aarti C. Thobhani
BRAIN TAZERS
Across: 1. Of general appeal 5. Excel 6. Ring
-shaped 7. Misprint Down: 1. Section of text
2. Spouse 3. Pamphlet 4. Dais
1. Take 9 from 6, 10 from 9, 50 from 40 and leave
Six.
2. When can you add 2 to 11 and get 1 as the
right answer?
3. How can a man go 8 days without sleep?
4. At a party, everyone shook hands with everybody else. There were 66 handshakes. How
many people were there?
Answers on line: www.westernparkgazette.co.uk